RAMSAY — Residents in the bucolic area of Ramsay west of Butte have concerns about a sober living home that recently opened in the area and they are worried it could bring crime and other problems.
“There are too many residents, 20-plus of them projected. We have children living here in our subdivision. Would you want those types of people concentrated in your backyard?” Russ Fehringer said at Tuesday’s Butte Council of Commissioners meeting.
The non-profit Hope Center Ministries opened a faith-based addiction recovery home at a residence off Craddick Road. Many members of the Flint Creek Estate Homeowner Association objected to this facility at a recent Commissioners meeting.
Staff at the center said the 18 clients staying there are not a threat to anyone.
“This is a very structured program. These guys don’t have time to run around and do crime and they’re not unsupervised. So, they’re not just running around out here doing whatever,” said Hope Center Recovery Pastor Rick Cantley.
The commissioners learned that the 17-acre property purchased by the nonprofit is in an area that is not zoned and can’t prevent the facility from operating there. Some commissioners sympathize with the Flint Creek residents.
“I’m not against treatment, I’m not against any of that, I think it’s great, but having it down the street from you—straight up, it sucks, it’s unfortunate,” said Butte Commissioner Josh O’Neill.
Residents still want to see it somewhere else.
“There’s lots of vacant buildings in Butte and Anaconda, seems to us that type of facility should be located in a location like that, not in a neighborhood,” said Fehringer.
Some of the clients at the center say they are part of the 12-month recovery plan to improve their lives through faith.
“And we can assure them that they don’t have any fears, we’re not going to do anything to them, we love them just like that; we hope one day they come to love us,” said Hope Center client Eugene Linwood.
